In the case of Ireland’s actions in terms of social media bans for children, it is evident that Ireland will follow the lead of the European Union for implementing definitive legislation. While there is not any legislation put in place by the European Union for any social media bans for minors, according to Matheson, the European Parliament has already approved of a proposal that would accept 16 as the minimum age for having access to social media sites. It was also approved that users aged 13 to 15 could access social media sites once they had parental consent.
Even though such proposals highlight a perceived attitude of desiring to have controlled regulation over the access that children have to social media, a central source of contention from EU member states, particularly Ireland is that with the absence of this proposal having a legally binding effect, this is not clamping down on the level of harm that young users are exposed to on social media. Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD has expressed his frustration regarding the laissez-faire approach of the European Commission to not force social media platforms to turn off algorithm recommendations for young users that are exposing children to harmful content. O’Donovan also believes that such action was not a necessity that needed to be addressed on an individual basis by each state. Rather, it was an essential communal effort that needs to be tackled collectively by the European Union.
As legislative action by the European Union has not taken full force yet, this has not stopped Ireland from turning the tide on the social media landscape for young users in their own way. According to Minister O’Donovan, there is a new system being developed in Ireland for verifying the age of a user using social media apps. Just like the proposal brought forward by the EU, 16 is believed to be the proposed age for users to at least be if they want to access a social media platform. The way that this proposal is believed to work is that individuals creating an account on a social media site will have to verify their ages through the identity system MyGovID.
While such proposals are welcomed by online safety campaigners across Ireland, they want the government to go further by addressing another issue across social media for young users, the algorithm system. Many child safety campaigners have long argued that the algorithm which recommends content to users that is believed to be suited to what they search for has played a hand in pushing content to children that is harmful and not suitable to their age group.
To make any future social media bans for children more of a reality in Ireland, media regulator Coimisiún na Meán made an agreement with the Australian eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) to expand the level of knowledge for digital regulation and online protection through the exchange of data, new information and the best conduct about technological systems and tools for maintaining a functioning digital ban for users under 16 on social media if a ban is eventually put in place.
As Australia is one of the first countries to implement a social media ban for children, world leaders and other online regulators are looking to them to see what works best and what does not to see how effective a ban for children accessing social media would be. Currently, in Australia, social media users under the age of 16 are starting to be removed by Meta from Instagram, Threads and Facebook. As of December 10th, 2025, users under the age of 16 have been removed from Tiktok and Youtube as well, according to RTÉ. Any social media companies found to be in breach of these new laws put in place by the Australian government will be subjected to a €28 million fine.
In regards to a potential social media ban for under 16s in Ireland, a generalised approach to simply banning access to social media platforms for under 16s could possibly be more problematic in the long run. By attempting to shut off the digital world to young people, this can heighten the already-present curiosity that a child has about trying to gain access into a forbidden reality. Especially when considering that this access will be even harder for a young person due to a ban, this will prompt young people to try and take more extreme measures to gain internet access.
While an all-out ban might not be the best approach, there is no denying that there needs to be some form of age verification alongside restrictions on particular content needed to access social media platforms. What could be a better approach could be a ban in place for children up until the age of 12 and then having social media platforms require parental consent for children aged 12 to 15 to access particular sites and content. Then, when someone reaches age 16 and over, they can access these platforms without parental approval – especially sites that deal with the posting of one’s own personal information or pictures on the public domain such as Instagram, X etc.
However, other platforms such as Youtube, TikTok and messaging boards should face an age verification process through a system like MyGovID to be able to access particular content. This process would better align with the practice of gradually allowing younger people to access content that they have the maturity to understand and mentally handle.
Moreover, whether one likes it or not, the world is operating and evolving primarily in the technological domain. Therefore, a greater harm could be created for young people in the long run having a blanket ban on social media access for under 16s. Without creating a gradual breadcrumbing exposure to social media, automatically granting social media access once a child turns 16 could put them in a situation even more precarious than what it was when they were originally granted access to social media before any bans. A general ban could add to further naivety that a young person could have in regards to social media dangers by not making them more familiar with the technological landscape on a gradual basis that would be suitable to their age. Therefore, making them ill-equipped to address any potential risks when they are granted social media access.
One thing that is guaranteed to be necessary whether the ban comes to fruition legislatively or not is that education on digital media literary will be needed at the highest standard alongside any change to a child’s access to social media sites. If there is an expectation that having restrictions for social media access for children is the way, educating the youth about the dangers of the internet across various social media platforms and how to address future dangers that they could face using social media.
No matter what type of ban is implemented by the Irish government, only time will tell how effective a ban on access to social media platforms by under 16s will be. Even if a general ban might not be favoured, restrictions on access to particular content and sites is necessary for a child’s wellbeing and protection.
